Why did colonists smuggle tea in to colonies when the Boston Tea Party occurs?

Answer 1

There had always been two sources of tea in the American colonies.

1) Legal Imports: These teas were usually imported from the UK and brought in British tea. (Mercantilist policy dictates that ships bearing no other flag could dock at American ports.) Now, not every box of tea leaves was ransacked during the Boston Tea Party. Some had already been delivered and other ships emerged unscathed or only partially looted. Therefore there was still legal tea after the Boston Tea Party, just less of it.

2) Smuggling: Because Mercantilist policy forbade trading with other countries, many Americans decided to trade with their neighbors by smuggling goods into American ports. John Hancock was known to have made a good living selling smuggled tea to the colonists, especially during this period.

Answer 2

NEW ANSWER:

After the Boston Tea Party, resistance to the Tea Act was general. New York and Philadelphia refused to let tea ships into their harbors and sent them back to Britain. But nowhere was the destruction of property as great as in Boston.

Lord North, the king's new prime minister, was furious. So was Parliament. It quickly retaliated with four measures designed to punish Massachusetts and restore imperial authority. The colonists called these measures the Intolerable Acts because they were sure they would be unable to endure them. One of the acts closed the port of Boston until the city paid for the tea. Since the city was dependent on shipping for food and firewood, it meant a cold, hungry winter for Boston.

A second act revoked the charter of Massachusetts, suspending the colony's civil government and placing it under military rule. A third measure, the Quartering Act, forced colonists to provide food and housing for soldiers who ruled them. A fourth act permitted British officials who injured people while enforcing the law to return to Britain for their court hearings.

The Quebec Act, was the fifth act, that was passed at the same time. Although it was not in response to the Tea Party, it was viewed by the colonists as one of the Intolerable Acts. It offered civil government to Canada, which had been under military rule, and granted religious toleration to french Catholics. In addition, it extended Canada's border south to the Ohio River.

The Boston Tea Party took place on December 16, 1773. The United Kingdom responded with the Intolerable Acts. By that legislation, the British Parliament closed the port of Boston, which was the major shipping point for the northern colonies. Also by that legislation, the colonists were told that no trade would be allowed in or out of the port until all of the destroyed tea had been paid for.

The Acts weren't welcomed by the colonists. For example, Virginia colonial statesman Richard Henry Lee [January 20, 1732-June 19, 1794] described the Acts as 'a most wicked System for destroying the Liberty of America'. Lee was the great uncle of Confederate General and Washington and Lee University President Robert Edward Lee [January 19, 1807-October 12, 1870].

Answer 3

The smuggling started years before the Tea Party. When the mercantile system was put into place by the crown the smuggling began. Hancock and Hamilton were two of the biggest smugglers in the colonies and this is where their fortunes came from. Everything went along pretty well until the British began to cut into their business, so to protect what they had going they began the Son's of Liberty and financially supported the group. The Boston Tea Party was a protest of the lowering of the cost of the British tea by the government and the East India tea company who had gotten a bail out from the crown in 1773. The smugglers in the colonies found the Dutch tea that they sold was higher in price than the British tea, so they staged the Boston Tea Party and others in harbors in the colonies ( Hamilton was one of the largest smugglers in the colonies and a founding member of the Son's of Liberty). The cost of tea also went as far back as the Navigation Acts and the restricting of trade to and from the colonies passed from 1650-1733. Tea was also taxed in 1767 in the Townsend Acts.

Answer 4

The Boston Tea Party was a protest of the lowering of the cost of the British tea by the government and the East India tea company who had gotten a bail out from the crown in 1773. The smugglers in the colonies found the Dutch tea that they sold was higher in price than the British tea, so they staged the Boston Tea Party and others in harbors in the colonies ( Hamilton was one of the largest smugglers in the colonies and a founding member of the Son's of Liberty). The cost of tea also went as far back as the Navigation Acts and the restricting of trade to and from the colonies passed from 1650-1733. Tea was also taxed in 1767 in the Townsend Acts.

Answer 5

How does the Boston tea party affects us now in 2008?